Thicker Than Water
by KylaRyan
Summary: When an old girlfriend dies of breast cancer, an oddeyed 15yearold teenager with an attutide must get used to life with her father, Doctor Greggory House, and his best friend, Doctor James Wilson. Second Installment in Family Matters fanfic series.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This is the second installment of "Family Matters."_

_**Thicker Than Water**_

_**Prologue--When Angels Pass On**_

"Cuddy, I think House's in trouble."

"Wilson, House isn't alone. He got three fully capable doctors with him."

"Not the kind of trouble that they would know how to handle."

"What do you mean?" asked Cuddy. Wilson handed her a note written in House's famillar scribble.

_I have lost myself. I have lost myself forever. There is no hope left in this world for me. I will never find myself again. Give K the box._

_G._

"What box?" asked Cuddy. "And who is K?"

"The note was taped to this," said Wilson, holding up a cardboard box. "As for 'K,' your guess is as good as mine."

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_Kyla watched as the priest closed the coffin containing the lifeless body of her mother. Turning to face the crowd of people that had come to Charity's funeral, she saw a man dressed for hiking join the crowd. Even though she couldn't see the man face clearly, she thought he looked famillar. _

_"It seems as though all of McGill University has come to mourn their professor of oncology, Doctor Charity Myn Ryan," she said to the crowd._

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There was a knock on Cuddy's door.

"Come in!" she called. A brown-haired girl opened the door.

"I was told I'd find Dr. Wilson here," she said.

"I am he," Wilson replied.

The girl, who looked to be about twelve years old, turned to face Wilson. Her left eye was swollen shut.

"What's with your eye?" Wilson asked.

"Tree branch," replied the girl with a slight smirk.

_That smirk is so like House's_, thought Wilson.

"You can tell us the truth," Cuddy said.

"I don't have anyone to abuse me," retorted the girl. "Anyways, it really was a tree branch."

"Then what do you want?" asked Cuddy.

"A little bird told me that Doctor Wilson has something for me," replied the girl.

"Who are you then?" asked Wilson.

"K," replied the girl, a famillar gleam in her good emerald eye.

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_Kyla saw the man in hiking clothes later that day, at the reception following the funeral. He'd changed into nicer clothes, replacing his hiking clothes with dressy causal. How had he gotten in without an invitation, anyway?_

_"Hello, sir. Do I know you?" she asked as she approached the stranger._

_"You probably don't remember me, Ky, but I was a close friend of your mother," the stranger replied._

_"Please don't call me 'Ky.' My mom was the only one who called me that..." she left the sentence unfinished._

_"Your dad always called you that."_

_Kyla looked up at this. "You knew my dad?" she asked eagerly. _

_"Did your mother ever talk about him?"_

_Kyla shook her head. "She told me he was a very bad person and that I was lucky that he had left her before I was born."_

_The man said, "They'd had a nasty fight. One of her students cheated on a paper, and she informed the honor council. When your father refused to testify against his best friend, they got into a fight."_

_"Did my dad know about me before he left?"_

_The man shook his head before saying, "She didn't ever know herself that she was pregnant."_

_"How do you know?" Kyla asked._

_"Is there somewhere we can talk privately?"_

_"Yes," replied Kyla, "follow me."_

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"So what's in the box?" asked Wilson.

"And who are you?" added Cuddy.

"Dr. House told me that the key to the identity of my father was in this cardboard box...and that my real name was in here," replied the girl.

"Well, then," said Wilson, "open it."

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_House looked at the results of the paternity test. _

Charity was right about Kyla,_ he thought to himself._

_He wrote on a slip of paper: _'Kyla Ryan House, the anwser's with Santa Claus.'

_He packed the results and the slip of paper into a cardboard box._

_After taping the box shut, he stuck a piece of lined paper on top of it._

_The note read:_

I have lost myself. I have lost myself forever. There is no hope left in this world for me. I will never find myself again. Give K the box.

G.

_After placing the package on Wilson's desk and emailing a message to Kyla, House snuck off to hide._

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"He's on the roof," Cameron informed Cuddy.

Cuddy fainted.

"What did you say?" asked Chase as he entered the diagnostics office with Foreman.

Cameron shrugged.

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"House!" called Wilson.

"Hi, Jimmy! Ky with you?" answered House, lying on his back on a blanket, wearing only three things: boxers, tank top, and sunglasses.

Kyla peered out from her hiding spot behind Wilson.

"_You're _Doctor House!?!" she squeaked.

"Yes, my lovely little Ky."

"If I hadn't seen the results of the paternity test," remarked Kyla.

"You're _my_ rebellious teenager, Ky," proclaimed House.

"Put your clothes back on, House," retorted Wilson, throwing House's pants at him.

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A/N: What do you think?


	2. Ocean's Eleven

A/N: I forgot to mention that there is a month's gap between the last chapter of _Cause and Effect_ and the first chapter of _Thicker Than Water_. It's now been two months since Kyla moved in with House...

Disclaimer: I don't own House...

_**Chapter Two: Ocean's Eleven**_

_6:30 A.M._

"I don't want to go to school! I want to go to work with you!" wailed Kyla, waking Wilson up.

"What's going on?" Wilson called groggedly from the living room. He was ignored.

"It's _only _high school,Ky. No one's going to shoot you!" House shouted.

"What about Columbine?" retorted Kyla from under her comforter, fully-dressed in case she lost this arguement.

"This is New Jersey, Ky," replied House, "not Colorado."

"What about that Amish school?"

"Still not New Jersey."

Kyla had nothing to say to this, so she conceded victory to House.

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_7:46 A.M._

"Bye, Ky!" called House.

Kyla turned and waved at him and Wilson as she entered the school building.

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_2:20 P.M._

Cuddy entered the diagnostics office. She found Chase working on a crossword puzzle, Foreman reading the latest issue of _New Jersey Neuromedicine_, and Cameron typing something on the computer. House was nowhere to be found.

"Where's House?" Cuddy asked them.

"With Wilson," replied Cameron, not even looking up.

"Watching the news," added Foreman.

As she closed the door, Cuddy heard Chase ask, "What's a five-letter word for patient?"

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_2:22 P.M._

Cuddy knocked before she entered Wilson's office. She found House and Wilson watching the news on House's portable television.

Looking at the screen, Cuddy saw why they were watching the news.

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_2:23 P.M. Plainsboro Catholic High School Newsroom_

"And welcome to Plainsboro Catholic High School Newshour," read Kyla. But before she could read the next line...

BANG! BANG!

"Kenny's got a gun! Kenny's got a--"

BANG!

Kyla reacted instinctively. She ran into the art room, calling, "In here! Quick!"

Four students ran into the art room after Kyla. The student who'd been operating the camera took it off the tripod and ran into the art room after them.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

THUD!

"Close the door! Hurry!" screamed another student.

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_2:28 P.M._

"Kyla, what makes you think that we're still broadcasting?" asked the student operating the camera, whose name was Jimmy or something like that.

"Nothing at all, my friend," replied Kyla, "but we must let them know who's trapped in here."

Pointing to herself, she said, "I'm Kyla Ryan House, and I'm a sophomore."

"Jamie Ronald Watson, sophomore." The camera flipped to reveal Wilson's nephew, Jamie.

"Aaric David Foreman, freshman." The camera focused on an African American boy with grey eyes.

"Robert Chase Seal-Foss, freshman." A strawberry blonde-haired boy with sea green eyes waved at the camera.

"Alyssa Lisa Cameron, freshman...er, freshwoman?" A pale red-haired girl with emerald green eyes and freckles waved at the camera next from where she sat beside Robert. She was Cameron's cousin.

"Elizabeth Cuddy, senior." Cuddy's niece waved at the camera last.

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A/N: I'm going to post a link at the end of each chapter (starting with this one) to a picture of a character connected to the story. The first is Kyla.

http:// i136. albums/q161/ allisoncameron/housekyla/ kyla/kylagram. jpg


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Jamie Watson, Robert Seal-foss, Alyssa Cameron, Aarik Foreman, my boyfriend Andy, and I make up the band House of Bones. Just wanted to let you, my loyal readers, know.

Disclaimer: I don't own House.

P.S. Could someone tell me where I can get the lyrics to "I Need to Wake Up"?

_**Chapter 3: ER Art Room**_

_2:30 P.M. PCHS Art Room_

"Alyssa? Alyssa, are you alright?" demanded Robert. He'd noticed a growing scarlet stain on her blouse.

Kyla whriled 'round just as Alyssa collasped into Robert's arms on national television.

"Robert, apply pressure to the wound. Jamie, aim the camera at the injury," directed Kyla, taking charge of the situation. She also took her cell phone out of her pocket.

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_2:32 P.M. PPTH_

House's phone rang.

"What do you need me to do, Ky?" he asked, his eyes glued to his portable television.

"Save Alyssa," replied Kyla.

"I can't walk thru walls," House pointed out.

"Can you guide me?"

"You need forceps, thread, a needle with a curved end, a scalpel, a bowl, rubbing alcohol, latex gloves, gauze, and something to keep your hair out of your face and the incision," listed House.

"It's a good thing I still have my kit," said Kyla.

House chuckled.

House watched as Kyla and her fellow prisoners prep Alyssa for surgery.

"Okay, now what?' asked Kyla.

"Remember, Ky, you have a human life hanging in the balance here. Do everything I tell you to do, in the order I tell you to do it. Understand?"

"Yes."

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_4:43P.M. PPTH_

Everyone in the clinic was talking about the "Art Room Sextet" and the miracle-worker who was their unoffical leader/spokeswoman, Kyla Ryan House. Even though the battery in the camera had died half-way thru the operation, Kyla's cellphone lasted until three minutes after the operation was completed. Clips of the video were still being broadcasted nationwide.

In an attempt to take his mind off of the question of Kyla's continued surival, House had tried to hide in the clinic and catch up on his clinic hours at the same time. But as soon as the first paitent entered the exam room, House regretted the idea. Everyone wanted House to know how much they were impressed by Kyla's maturity. None thought that maybe House didn't want to talk about his daughter right then.

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_8:00P.M. PCHS Art Room_

"The window. Is it big enough?" Kyla asked.

"I think so," mused Robert from his place beside Alyssa.

"Some kid locked it and then the lock got stuck," said Jamie.

"During summer school last year," added Elizabeth.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

"I know you're in there!"

Alyssa and Robert began to cry. They were terrified. Kyla found herself wondering if Robert was going to wet his pants...or if he had already done so.

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_11:40P.M. PPTH_

House sat alone in his office. The blinds were lowered and the lights off.

_I can't do anything to help Ky now. It's all up to her and her friends,_ he thought to himself.

House felt useless. And he hated that.

He was a man of action, not of lethagry.

And he knew very well the likelihood of his ever seeing Kyla alive again...less than one percent.

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A/N: Sorry, no picture with this chapter. The picture's taking longer to make than I thought it would.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: This chapter contains multiple character deaths.

_**Chapter Four: To Catch A Fire**_

_1:00A.M. house's office_

A bottle of whiskey, half empty.

Thirteen little white pills lined up in a row like minature albino ducklings.

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_12:58A.M. pchs art room_

Kyla levered open the lock on the window with a crowbar she'd found. Forcing open the window (with help from Jamie and Aarick, as Robert was too busy mooning over Alyssa), she called out, "Got it! Aarick, Elizabeth, you two go first!"

Aarick wriggled thru the window feet first on his stomach. Elizabeth did the same.

"Okay, now you, Robert," directed Jamie.

"But I want to help with Alyssa," whined Robert.

"You can help carry her stretcher once we get her outside," said Jamie with the patience of a saint.

"Why can't I help get her out?" asked Robert.

"You're too short!" called Aarick.

Jamie helped Robert to get out.

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_1:00A.M. ppth cafeteria_

A radio on a nearby table was broadcasting the lastest on the situation at Plainsboro Catholic High School.

"There have been reports of students exiting the building," announced the reporter.

"Someone get House!" called Nurse Rex, who'd been nursing a cup of coffee at another table.

Cameron pulled out her cell phone and tried to call House, but it wouldn't connect.

"Dmn," she swore.

Chase and Foreman looked at her.

"You just swore," Chase remarked.

"Yeah, so?" Cameron demanded.

It was at this point that Wilson came over and asked, "Have you guys seen House recently?"

"He's not in his office?" asked Foreman.

"There's no sign of life," replied Wilson, adding, "the door was locked."

Wilson suddenly felt as though ice-cold bands were constricting his heart.

_Oh no,_ he thought.

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_1:00A.M. pchs art room_

"Okay, Kyla, now it's your turn," called Jamie.

BANG!

A bullet richoted off the window frame.

"Go Jamie! Alyssa needs medical attention," directed Kyla.

Then she turned around and faced the shooter, junior Kenneth "Kenny" Watts.

"You will not have the others. They are free. They are safe. They are alive," Kyla said firmly.

"But I have you. Surely that must count for more than the safety of your friends to _somebody_ close to you," replied the junior. "Perhaps your father?"

"Leave House out of this!" Kyla snapped.

"He stole my mother!" Kenny replied.

"No, he didn't!"

Kenny pointed the gun at Kyla's chest as he said, "You are my half-sister. But since you have _his_ blood running through your veins, you _must_ die. Mr. Ed says that _your_ death will hurt _him_ so badly that _he_ will comtemplate death."

As Kenny said this, Kyla looked desperately for something--anything at all!--that she could use as a weapon.

CLICK.

Her blood froze at the sound of the safety being undone.

_Oh, dear God,_ she prayed,_ let him miss._

Only a mircale could save her now.

A rock sailed thru the still-open window.

WHAM-BANG!

It hit Kenny's gun hand, causing him to fire the gun.

Kyla ducked, but the bullet still hit her.

"KYLA!" screamed Jamie.

BANG! THUD!

_He sounds like a girl,_ Kyla thought.

She was unaware of the fact that she bleeding to death.

Nor was she aware of the lifeless body beside her.

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A/N: Scary? Wait till you read the next chapter. It's even scarier.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Lyrics belong to some one else. The song's called "Breathe." I wrote it in as it was sung by my school's choir. Oh, and this chapter's heart-stoppingly scary.

_**Chapter Five: Oxygen and Best Friends**_

_1:01A.M. house's office_

House picked up the first pill and swallowed it.

_This is the air I breathe,_

_This is the air I breathe._

Then the second.

_Your holy presence living in me._

Now the third, and the fourth.

_This is my daily bread,_

_This is my daily bread._

The fifth.

_Your holy word spoken to me._

The sixth, the seventh.

_And I, I'm desperate for you._

_And I, I'm lost without you._

The eighth, the ninth.

_This is the air I breathe,_

_This is the air I breathe._

The tenth.

_Your holy presence living in me._

The eleventh, the twelefth.

_This is my daily bread,_

_This is my daily bread._

And the thirteenth and final pill.

_Your holy word spoken to me._

Then he drank all of the whiskey.

_And I, I'm desperate for you._

_And I, I'm lost without you._

House felt tired, dead tired.

Stifling a yawn, he laid down on the floor and closed his eyes.

_And I, I'm desperate for you._

Wilson leapt over the brick wall that seperated his and House's balconies. He opened the door just as House stopped breathing.

_And I, I'm lost without you._

"HELP HIM, WILSON. HE'S DYING," said a famillar voice from across the room.

"Kyla?" exclaimed Wilson in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"IT IS OF NO IMPORTANCE RIGHT NOW. HOUSE IS OF IMPORTANCE RIGHT NOW. YOU WILL NEED HIM MORE THAN EVER SOON," replied Kyla.

_And I, I'm desperate for you._

_And I, I'm lost without you._

Then Kyla was gone.

Wilson raced to House's side. He checked for a pulse. He couldn't find one.

_And I, I'm deseperate for you._

_And I, I'm lost without you._

Wilson began to compress House's chest, counting, "One-Two-Three."

_This is the air I breathe,_

_This is the air I breathe._

"Breathe in, breathe out."

_Your holy presence living in me._

"Compress, one-two-three."

_This is my daily bread,_

_This is my daily bread._

"Come on, House! LIVE!"

_Your holy word spoken to me._

Wilson checked for a pulse a second time.

_And I, I'm deseperate for you._

_And I, I'm lost without you._

"Weak, but it's there."

_And I, I'm desperate for you._

_And I'm lost without you._

Cuddy unlocked the door to House's office, since she had a key.

_And I, I'm desperate for you._

"What happened, Wilson? Is he alright?"

"He...He tried to kill himself."

_And I, I'm lost without you._

"I suppose it's a good thing House's unconcious. He'd only get in the way of the doctors in the ER."

"Why's that?"

_I'm deseperate for you._

_I'm lost without you._

"Kyla was shot. She's lost alot of blood. And the bullet's lodged in her spinal cord.

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BEEP...BEEP...BEEP...BEEP...

_Why can't I just for once _die _when I want to?_

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A/N:Read and review!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: A couple days have past between the previous chapter (chapter 5) and the current chapter (chapter 6).

Disclaimer: Since I have only $300 in the bank, I definitely don't own House.

_**Chapter Six: Painkiller Doc**_

_several days later (about three)_

"You're awake. That's good, I suppose," said Wilson.

"Why is it good?" grumbled House.

"No brain damage from the lack of oxygen," remarked Wilson. "Anyways, how many pills did you take?"

"Why do you care?"

"Dmn it, House, answer the question! How many pills did you take!?"

"You pumped my stomach, you tell me," retorted House.

"Five pills isn't enough to send a person into cardiac arrest, House."

"No, duh, Wilson," retorted House, "else I'd need help pumping blood to my head."

Wilson sighed in exsperation.

Picking up the file lying in the chair next to him, Wilson said, "Tell me how many pills you swallowed, and then I'll let you have a look at this file."

"Cuddy letting me take on a new patient while I'm still hospitalized?"

"No," admitted Wilson.

"Who is it? I can't read your mind from where I am, Wilson."

"Kyla. She was shot, House. The bullet's embedded in her spinal cord."

"How long have I been out?"

"About three days."

"And the bullet? Has it been removed yet?"

"No. She lost a lot of blood. And she isn't very stable."

House swore.

"House, calm down. I'm not supposed to be telling you about Kyla's condition."

"So why did you tell me?"

"Because you're her father."

"Thirteen."

Wilson understood what House was talking about, and he handed House Kyla's file.

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"I thought I told you to not tell House about Kyla, Wilson," said Cuddy, angry that Wilson had disobeyed her.

"He's her only living relative, Cuddy," Wilson said in defense.

"He's a patient in this hospital, Doctor Wilson!" snapped Cuddy.

"He told me how many pills he took," retorted Wilson, in an attempt to disarm Cuddy's anger. Luckily, it did.

"How many?" Cuddy asked.

"Thirteen."

"_Thirteen_?!?!"

"Yes, thirteen. He was definitely trying to kill himself."

Cuddy picked up her phone to dial the head of the psych ward, Doctor Amygala Howerton.

"He won't try again, Cuddy."

"He promised?"

"No, but I know he won't."

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A/N: Read and review!!!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: "Go Make A Difference" by Steve Angrisano and Tom Tomazek.

_**Chapter Seven: Humans are Social Creatures**_

_several hours later, 5:00P.M._

Kyla opened her eyes to find House standing over her.

"What's wrong with me?" she asked.

"Nothing a simple surgery wasn't able to fix," replied House.

"Why did I collaspe in the art room then?"

"You were shot in the spine. The bullet got lodged in your spinal cord."

"Is he dead?"

"Who?"

"Kenneth."

"He...uh, shot himself."

"He was my half-brother."

"How do--" began House, but Kyla interrupted him.

"He told me that before he shot me."

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_6:00P.M._

_Go make a difference. We can make a difference._

_Go make a difference in the world._

_Go make a difference. We can make a difference._

_Go make a difference in the world._

Kyla and House ate dinner together in Kyla's hospital room, laughing over happier times.

_We are the salt of the earth, called to let the people see the love of God in you and me._

Wilson was sitting alone in his office, working on paperwork, when he got a page. He looked at the message, and gave up on the paperwork for the night.

_We are the light of the world, not to be hidden but be seen._

_Go make a difference in the world._

Wilson joined Kyla and House for dinner. He was glad to see House really smiling again.

_Go make a difference. We can make a difference._

_Go make a difference in the world._

_Go make a difference. We can make a diference._

_Go make a difference in the world._

Foreman, Chase, and Cameron were sitting around a table at the bar they regularly visited, drinking their usual drinks, talking and laughing about life before they'd all met House.

_We are the hands of Christ reaching out to those in need, the face of God for all to sse._

Cuddy joined Chase, Cameron, and Foreman, much to their surprise. She joined in the merry-making too.

_We are the Spirit of Hope; we are the voice of peace._

_Go make a difference in the world._

Elizabeth Cuddy sat down to dinner with her parents. They discussed Elizabeth's decision to someday be a hospital adminstrator.

"I want to be just like Aunt Lisa," Elizabeth said.

_Go make a difference, we can make a diference._

_Go make a difference in the world._

_Go make a difference, we can make a difference._

_Go make a difference in the world._

Aarick David Foreman hugged his father, Jonah Foreman, and said, "Dad, can I be a doctor just like Uncle Eric?"

Jonah replied, "Son, you can be whatever you want, as long as you put your mind to it."

_So let your love shine on, let it shine for all to see._

_Go make a difference in the world._

Robert and Alyssa were having their dinner in Alyssa's hospital room.

"What are you going to be?" asked Alyssa.

"A doctor. What about you?"

"Same thing--a doctor."

"Let's be doctors together."

"Let's."

They smiled. Then they promptly dissolved into giggles.

_And the spirit of Christ will be with us as we go._

_Go make a difference in the world._

Jamie Ronald Watson surfed the web, researching the field of oncology.

"I think oncology's the speciality for me," he said aloud to himself.

_Go make a difference. We can make a difference._

_Go make a difference in the world._

_Go make a difference. We can make a difference._

_Go make a difference in the world._

Kyla turned to House and asked, "House, can I be a doctor just like you some day?"

House replied, "If that's what you want, then you have my blessing."

_Go make a difference in the world._

_Go make a difference----------in the world._

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A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

And here's a picture of Elizabeth Cuddy. More pictures will accompany the sequel.

http://i136. be on the look out for the next installment in the "Family Matters" series, "Estrogen Boy."


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